Heartbeat
by justanoutlaw
Summary: The past traumas Robin has faced come back to haunt him nightly in his dreams. Regina comforts him each time.


This was a prompt submitted to me by an anonymous user on Tumblr from a prompt post I reblogged:

"I had a nightmare about you, and I wanted to make sure you were alright."

A fix-it of sorts for 5x21.

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 _Robin instantly lowered his daughter into the Moses basket at the sound of Hades voice. He turned around, protectively guarding her. Regina stepped by his side, doing the same. Hades was holding some weird clear wand in his hands, aiming it at him._

" _You stay away from my daughter," Robin told him, the ferocity in his voice._

 _Hades smiled that sick grin. "Believe me, she's not the one who's in danger here."_

" _Hades, stop!" Regina yelled. "This isn't worth it. If you kill me, you will lose Zelena forever."_

" _Only if she knows about it," he replied, stepping closer to them. "And this isn't going to kill you. This is going to_ _ **end**_ _you. No Underworld, no moving on. One minute, you exist, and the next... you don't. That's what you get for trying to turn Zelena against me."_

 _Robin felt his heart racing and his blood run cold. He glanced over at Regina, who didn't exactly look calm, but didn't exactly have the reaction he would expect. Maybe it was the countless times she had been near death, he wasn't sure. What he did know, was he had to do whatever he could to stop it._

" _This was my idea to break in here. Just use that on me. You let her go." The words escaped his mouth before he could think about it. Regina gasped and put her hand on his arm. He didn't meet her eye though, he kept himself focused on Hades. That sick smile didn't leave his lips._

" _Oh, sorry, ladies first."_

 _He pointed it towards her and Robin attempted to push her out of the way, but at the same time, so did she. He hit the floor as she was overtaken by the zap of blue magic. Tears came to Robin's eyes as he watched the love of his life have her soul sucked from her body and watched it evaporate. It was a pain he had felt only once before, one he swore he would never have to feel again._

The baby was crying. That's what woke him up. His eyes flickered open and he looked around the room. He wasn't in the mayor's office, he was in the room that Snow had put together for the baby while they had all still been stuck in the Underworld. His breathing was heavy as he walked to the crib and lifted his daughter from the crib, rocking her.

"Shhh, it's alright," he cooed. "It's alright." He wasn't quite sure if he was talking to her or himself. Probably a mixture of both.

Once she had settled back down, Robin kissed her forehead and lowered her back down. Going down the hall, he poked his head into both Henry and Roland's rooms. The boys were sleeping peacefully. Finally, he made his way to the master. Much like the rest of the family, Regina was still fast asleep. He laid on his side next to her, watching her chest rise and drop. His heartrate hadn't gone down since he woke up.

The nightmares weren't going anyway. They weren't just about Hades either. He had horrifying ones of Zelena coming through and hurting his family. It made it hard to sleep, which is why he kept putting it off. Regina had offered time and time again to split the nighttime responsibilities for the baby, but he refused. He realized he must have drifted off while watching his little one sleep.

"Robin?" Regina's voice pulled him from his thoughts and he looked down at her. Even in her tired state, she looked concerned. "Robin, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, love, did I wake you?"

"I could just feel you," she sat up, cocking her head. "What's going on?"

Robin let out a deep breath. "I had a nightmare about you, and I wanted to make sure you were alright."

Regina nodded, moving closer to him and wrapping her arms around him, resting her head on his chest. She listened to his heart pounding in his chest and shut her eyes, not saying anything at first, it wasn't necessary. That day, they had been able to take down Hades before he used that wand, but it didn't stop Robin from being traumatized. Between that and his whole experience with Zelena, she knew he was avoiding sleep. Her heart broke for him. He was so insistent that they just go on with their lives, start their happily after. He said it was what she deserved, what the kids did. Maybe that was true, but so did he.

"I think you need to speak with Archie," she finally said after a few minutes.

"Regina…"

"I'm serious," she interrupted, looking up at him. "I know this whole ordeal has been hard on you, it has for all of us. He might be able to help with your nightmares."

"We just need to move on. Things have finally gone back to normal around here, our family is finally happy."

"But you're struggling and that's okay. You just need to get some help with it all." She rubbed his arm. "Dr. Hopper is really great. He's really been able to help people, even me."

Robin was silent for a minute. He kept her close in his arms, shutting his eyes.

"You're not alone, Robin," Regina's words washed over him like warm water. "We're going to get through this, I promise. Happy endings, they don't always have the greatest starts. If everything we've been through has taught me anything, they take time."

He looked down at her, rubbing his thumb over cheek before connecting his lips with hers.

"Alright," he agreed, softly.

Regina nodded. "Alright."

The two didn't go back to sleep, they just sat there, cuddled in each other's arms.

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As always, prompts are accepted on my Tumblr accounts: just-an-outlaw and justanoutlawfanfiction!


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